Well, I would also like to ask something else. I've read in many threads that your favorite Fire Emblem class is Sage. But you've never said why.

Why do you like the Sage class? And why is your avatar character a Sage?

Well, I think a big part of it has to do with how awesome I thought Pent was in Fire Emblem 7 when I was a kid. Seeing him take on all those dudes in the desert with his epic cape and magic hyped up the sage class a lot for me.

There's also the fact that I've always loved capes, and sages have one.

(06-18-2013, 10:15 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: Well, I think a big part of it has to do with how awesome I thought Pent was in Fire Emblem 7 when I was a kid. Seeing him take on all those dudes in the desert with his epic cape and magic hyped up the sage class a lot for me.

There's also the fact that I've always loved capes, and sages have one.

(06-18-2013, 10:15 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: Well, I think a big part of it has to do with how awesome I thought Pent was in Fire Emblem 7 when I was a kid. Seeing him take on all those dudes in the desert with his epic cape and magic hyped up the sage class a lot for me.

There's also the fact that I've always loved capes, and sages have one.

And female sages just look sexy.

LOL, I never thought you'd say that xD
It's quite interesting learning this about you, actually

Mmm, let's see. How did you find about Touhou? And equally important, when did you learned about Reisen?

Oh christ. Here we go. The big questions.

Back when I started my youtube account, I made gameplay videos of a fighting game engine called M.U.G.E.N.. To explain, it's an engine where you can make characters, stages, and whatnot to make your own fighting game, or just fight other people's characters.

A lot of times, people would port characters from commercial and doujin fighting games. My first exposure to Touhou was with Garionfeld's video fighting a Giant Suika Ibuki.

That was my first exposure, but I didn't actually LEARN about Touhou until my friends (online friends... I had a circle of online friends who all knew each other. Ampchu was one of them.) started uploading gameplay videos of Immaterial and Missing Power... at least, I think that's how it went. I really didn't have much interest in the series, but I did in fact make a video of IaMP after my victory against Misuzu_K in MUGEN (Which is no longer on youtube, I don't think, so the context is no longer fully there). I also played through the game with Reimu. It wasn't easy for me. At all. The game introduced new fighting game concepts that I wasn't familiar with.

As for Reisen... I think I first saw a cruddy version of her in MUGEN. I believe it was through a video Luizprower made. Luizprower's my best friend by the way. Oh, and in case you're interested, here's a video of me fighting that Reisen... with myself. It's not a very good video. My performance is needlessly over the top.

Anyways, I learned about her through him. Um... hm... this is where shit gets complicated, moreso than before.

Luis was, at the time, someone I greatly resented because he defeated me in Melty Blood. However, the guy really cared about me and saw through my douchebag personality, seeing me as... well, an insecure, terrified person (Which I still am. Again, I apologize for acting like a jerk to you before, Alex). Despite my resentment and aloofness, he tried to reach out to me and get me to come to terms with reality on some things, particularly my obsession with fictional characters, like Misuzu Kamio, who I had an enormous crush on at the time. He managed to make me stronger, though I still hated him.

For a while, he disappeared and we didn't talk. He fell out with a lot of his friends, and one day... messaged me on AIM, saying he remembered me and stuff, and asked if I'd be willing to hear him talk a bit.

He talked about a lot of stuff. Touhou, his fall out with his friends, and other things, but it was clear that he was very passionate about touhou, and his passion rubbed off on me and got me a bit invested in the series. He also told me about Reisen in that chat.

We became very close friends after that chat, and I admitted to him that I was a fool to not accept him with open arms despite how much he cared... (God, I'm getting really emotional right now as I type this). We talked a lot on skype, and eventually I grew very attracted to Suika of all things because of this one pic of her that I really liked. We considered starting up an RP. And by RP, I mean Luis would simulate ALL of gensokyo, put me in it, and then we'd see how I'd fair. He's pretty amazing by the way. Flawed, but dude, he's simulating an entire world and it's characters. He's better than anyone else I've seen simulate gensokyo, but don't bother asking him to RP with you. It's a personal thing between him and I.

During this time, we also started a rivalry in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. I felt humiliated at how he trounced me in Melty Blood (Which I DID eventually get my revenge and surpass him in that game, but I digress) so I sought revenge at beating him at his own game: a touhou game.

Now, let me be clear: Luis really likes Reisen. She's among his favorite characters. But he was disappointed at her sprite in the game and her gameplay. He felt she was the worst character in the game. For me, I saw this as an opportunity to REALLY get back at him by using who he thought was allegedly the worst character in the game, and beating him with her, without spell cards.

Naturally this didn't go well. He beat me a lot, but I was very determined (Thanks to MUGEN tempering that mentality into me... fucking cheap characters. That, and my lust for revenge.). After our sessions, Luis would tell me about Reisen, and this is what planted the seeds that would eventually bloom into my crush on her.

This, along with our RP sessions (Which mostly took place at Reimu's shrine at first, but I went other places and eventually ended up at Eientei), really fueled me to like Reisen. To me, she was a mistreated character who was level headed and well meaning. To me, she deserved far more than what she had, and Luis telling me she was bad in SWR constantly further fueled this.

Eventually, the amazing happened. I was so good at Scarlet Weather Rhapsody that I accomplished my goal of beating Luis with Reisen without using any spell cards. Eventually this became consistent and I got so passionate about my victory that I got angry at Luis, scolding him for putting down Reisen so much. I really hated that he kept saying she was bad, and I hated how she was treated in canon, and I laid both those feelings out on him straight.

Three days later, I told him "Luis... I think I have a crush on Reisen". He told me "Yeah, saw that coming after you ranted off at me about her"

This created a conflict between my former crush, Misuzu, and my new crush, but eventually I kind of just forgot about Misuzu and Reisen became my new fictional crush.

So yeah. I guess my love for her is fueled by her interesting, developed and likable character, paired with how I associate her with my closest friend.

I would've never thought you learned about Touhou trough MUGEN. It all comes as a surprise to me.

I'm terrible at MUGEN and character programming, so I haven't touched it in years. Forgot about its existence.

That story about Luis...is interesting. A rivalry that turned into friendship, then into a challenge and finally into an awkward relationship.
...
Perfectly fine with me.

So your crush on Reisen developed from hours of playing as her? I think I understand that feeling.

I use Kula Diamond all the time in any KOF game she's in. I never replace her. NEVER.

But I don't have a crush on her. My heart belongs to the always beautiful Kristen Kreuk (LolWut? 'w')

I've been enjoying every single thing you wrote. I'm glad I made that question.

So, Marc, what is your take on Reisen's backstory and how do you portray her nowadays? Would you still like her if she was more assertive with the people around her? Have you done any kind of fanwork related to Reisen (besides RPs)?

(06-18-2013, 11:53 PM)Alex Suárez Wrote: That story about Luis...is interesting. A rivalry that turned into friendship, then into a challenge and finally into an awkward relationship.

Eh...? More like it started out as me hating the dude, then it became a friendship, THEN it became a rivalry, which kind of dwindled after I heavily surpassed him in the game. He could never beat me anymore. Even WITH my handicaps.

What's this about an awkward relationship? Me and Luis are best friends. Platonic friends. Not whatever "awkward relationship" means.

(06-18-2013, 11:53 PM)Alex Suárez Wrote: So your crush on Reisen developed from hours of playing as her? I think I understand that feeling.

No. It developed from learning about her, and frustration while playing as her, and a few other things, like her appearance (particularly her hair. I have an enormous fetish for extremely long hair, and Reisen's is... really long). It's worth noting that I don't like Zun's artstyle (Everyone looks like dolls), and my personal perception of Reisen is as a young adult who looks 21, so anything that depicts her looking of that age, maybe even a little older, is close to how I view her in my head.

(06-18-2013, 11:53 PM)Alex Suárez Wrote: So, Marc, what is your take on Reisen's backstory and how do you portray her nowadays? Would you still like her if she was more assertive with the people around her? Have you done any kind of fanwork related to Reisen (besides RPs)?

Oh jesus christ, not another one. >_<

Okay. I have two separate ways I see Reisen. There's coward anti-hero Reisen, which assumes Touhou 9 is canon and Shikeiki's words in the game were the truth, and the moon hating rebel one, which assumes the opposite.

Reisen's fleeing the moon isn't really delved into detail, but apparently she's responsible for the deaths of numerous comrades because she left. This doesn't make any sense. The moon treats moon rabbits like pets, which is to imply that they are functionally slaves, and that Reisen was drafted into the military against her will. She's apparently one of, if not, the most powerful moon rabbit, but her ranking and whatnot isn't really explained, and her former masters were already aware that she was cowardly. To assume that Shikeiki is right means you're willing to accept that despite better judgement and common sense, she was put into the army and managed to achieve a high rank DESPITE being a coward, to the point where fleeing the moon actually DOES have consequences to which she may be held accountable for. However, even THAT doesn't make much sense considering numerous other factors, such as the fact that Reisen didn't want to be in the military in the first place.

However, at the same time, if we DO assume all this, it gives us a more interesting Reisen. A Reisen who feels immense guilt for what she's done, and seeks redemption through becoming a nurse/doctor so that she can save lives. It also makes her fight in imperishable night more meaningful because it marks a milestone in Reisen's maturity: She was willing to stand up to Reimu and Yukari - two major league touhou juggernauts - to protect the ones she cares about. Meaning she's not such a coward anymore.

Now, the more sensible interpretation assumes that Touhou 9 was just a load of bullshit like it most likely is. This doesn't give us coward Reisen, but instead gives us an extremely hateful Reisen who looks down upon humans/lunarians.

Instead of leaving the moon because of cowardice, she left because she hates the moon and how it treats her and her own kind. Like pets, not as equals, despite the moon rabbits being there before the lunarians.

But alas, that's just a change of her backstory. Here's where I explain her personality.

Well, obviously, with either interpretation, she has enormous emotional baggage, and suffers some form of depression. Could be any of them, from multiple personality disorder, clinical depression, etc. but I prefer to go with manic depression (AKA Bipolar disorder) and extreme paranoia, because although she likely didn't see much battle, if at all, she was probably still horrified, and even when she left, the moon rabbits told her they would take her back whether she resisted or not.

You could probably pile other things on there, but long story short, Reisen is extremely emotional, suspicious, and probably has trouble sleeping at night (In SWR or UNL, not sure which, she mentions she doesn't get enough sleep when fighting against herself). Thankfully though, we have Eirin Yagokoro to help with this.

In Moon Inaba Earth Inaba, Reisen takes pills Eirin prescribed to her when she's "bored". I prefer to interpret it as she takes medication to help handle her baggage, trauma, and depression.

So with the help of this, Reisen's able to live a fairly normal life, as a tenant at Eientei (Not as a pet). It's worth noting that I try to un-sue Eirin as much as possible. I made her one of the weaker characters of Eientei manor in terms of combat (Second weakest, above Tei), and she can't cure absolutely EVERYTHING, but she's still very accomplished as a doctor and pharmacist. She's also still very smart, but she's stoic, and lacks common sense.

With either interpretation of Reisen, there are some things that are consistent. She's mature and level headed, but she can get swept up in her emotions easily (As in, losing her temper or getting extremely upset). She's very smart, but will sometimes make bad decisions because she gets cocky/arrogant, and impulsive. She's a fast thinker though, so even if she makes mistakes, she can get out of whatever trouble she finds herself in. She's also introverted, and doesn't like people, so she generally avoids social interaction unless something strikes her curiosity, and she is a VERY curious person.

One thing that goes against canon though is that I will not make her gullible. It doesn't make sense. She's probably paranoid as all hell, and Tei's a jackass, so I imagine Tei's pranks don't work as often as they do in canon works (Or they just never show when they DON'T work). Work is also more fairly distributed between them. Tei has bigger chores, but she has the earth rabbits to help her, and the earth rabbits also help protect Eientei from attack. Reisen's chores mostly involve cooking, doing errands for Eirin, delivering medicine, and protecting Eientei. Probably a few more things as well, but I can't think of anything at the moment..

I also add more to her backstory. She's had a former boyfriend (named Hanaburu), has childhood friends, and parents whom she misses very much (As indicated in moon inaba earth inaba). She's also... extremely kinky. I mean c'mon, when you have the power to control light, sound, the brain, and, seemingly, the ability to make temporary physical entities, the perverse potential is nearly limitless. I imagine that this, combined with her curiosity, has made her realize she's into some fucked up stuff.

Um... what else...? Well despite her shortcomings as a person, she's well intentioned, and even if she doesn't like people, she still has a sense of duty toward helping people, and if you can get past her unfriendly nature, she becomes extremely sweet and gentle in a sort of motherly way.

Oh! One more thing. Her hair. In imperishable night and other canon works (Including Zun outright saying it), her hair is as long as her entire body, possibly even longer if you factor in that it always has a "wave" in it. I actually came up with a justification for why she grew her hair so long. The moon has a princess in a similar style to ancient japan, which means that long hair is a symbol of high upbringing and class (So Kaguya's hair is always extremely long in my interpretations). Since Reisen's not high class on the moon, she was not allowed to grow her hair out. It would always be short. However, when she fled the moon, she decided to grow it out to symbolize her act of rebellion, and as a statement that she demands to be seen as an equal. Plus it's cozy. So naturally, she values her hair a lot, and keeps it very long. Since she is a youkai, she's physically strong by default, so her hair does not hinder her mobility in any way, and can also be used in conjunction with her illusion powers to further confuse her opponents.

I think that's everything. I'd list other details that explain her character, but a lot of them are not very important (Such as how she fled the moon). That, or I forgot to list some. Whatever. There you have it.

Jeeeeeez. That's a lot of thought for a silly, naughty little rabbit, good for nothing bu-- *shot repeatedly by everyone in the forum*

OK, OK, kidding. I like playing with a lot of the Touhou memes, but even I get really tired of them at times (and if I see another person overly tsundere Alice again, I'm going to shove them into an ice chipper Sleeping Dogs style). I haven't played Touhou 9 (which I probably should, since I find Shikieiki (why is that name so hard to spell?), Komachi, and Yuuka fascinating), so some of that Reisen backstory kinda flew over my head. Still, your interpretation of Reisen makes perfect sense imo, and honestly I've always found the hypnotic moon rabbit with literal bullet danmaku interesting... even if she was a bitch in the actual game (I love Reisen, but dammit I hate fighting her).

I'm really on the fence for that power interpretation of Eirin. While, imo I think Reisen could probably take Eirin in a fair fight, Eirin, being this prodigal, intelligent Lunarian whose powers have made the bloody Hourai Elixir, among many other concoctions of insane power, could probably boost her own ability with any of these potions that she created. Plus, I've always been a firm believer of "having something to fight for increases your strength and power" and "being pushed against the wall will magnify your existing powers," so anything that threatened Kaguya in any form would probably push Eirin to heights that would be... extremely terrifying. Plus, Eirin was a high-ranking Lunarian; I would HOPE that means something in terms of her own combat abilities. If anything, I'd say Eirin and Reisen are, at the very least, well tied in ability.

... Although I still wouldn't want to be in the way of Tewi and that damn hammer of hers.

So, Marc, I've actually thought of three questions now that the Touhou conversations have been raised:

1) In your opinion, who is the weakest human/Youkai/ghost/god/justfrickenwhateverthatthingis in Gensokyo? I mean, when all the hype and exaggerated powers are removed, who is the weakest? (inb4Cirno)

2) Who do you think is the most overexaggerated OP character in Gensokyo? I personally lean towards Yukari in this, but I'm wondering if you feel that any other characters are hyped beyond their actual power.

3) Do you have a least favorite or most despised Touhou character? Just like one that really annoys you or one that you're just plain apathetic to?

This sig will Self-Destruct in 3.... 2.... 1.... Thank you for your time. Cookie?

(06-19-2013, 12:26 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: It's worth noting that I don't like Zun's artstyle (Everyone looks like dolls), and my personal perception of Reisen is as a young adult who looks 21, so anything that depicts her looking of that age, maybe even a little older, is close to how I view her in my head.

You're not far from the truth. Apparently, most of the Touhou cast (excluding youkai, ghosts, immortals and other beings that don't age) is between 20-30.

Which only makes me wonder why people keep drawing them as teenagers.

(06-19-2013, 12:26 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: She's also... extremely kinky. I mean c'mon, when you have the power to control light, sound, the brain, and, seemingly, the ability to make temporary physical entities, the perverse potential is nearly limitless. I imagine that this, combined with her curiosity, has made her realize she's into some fucked up stuff.

HOW DARE YOU FILL MY MIND WITH SEXY REISEN THOUGHTS?!!!
HOW COULD YOU, MARC?!

(06-19-2013, 12:26 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: Oh! One more thing. Her hair. In imperishable night and other canon works (Including Zun outright saying it), her hair is as long as her entire body, possibly even longer if you factor in that it always has a "wave" in it.

Doesn't she have trouble walking and sitting? xD

Strange that we both have a fetish for hair. I specially like really long, wet, black hair...
(Think about it)
Nnnnngaaaaahhhhh!!!

(06-19-2013, 12:26 PM)markyjoe1990 Wrote: I think that's everything. I'd list other details that explain her character, but a lot of them are not very important (Such as how she fled the moon). That, or I forgot to list some. Whatever. There you have it.